Australians "cautiously optimistic" about festive season shopping

Australian retail marketers are being advised hybrid shopping is here to stay, with research released today showing that 60% more Australians will shop on their mobile this festive season and 30% fewer Australians will shop in-store, compared to 2021. 

The data which comes from InMobi’s “ 2022 Holiday Shopping: What Brands and Retailers Need to Know ” research report, also shows 49% of Australians have already made concrete shopping plans, a three-fold increase in 2021. 

Buying is expected to peak in November during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for 58% of shoppers, while 18% will buy before ‘free shipping day’ on the 15th of December and 28% will buy in the two weeks before Christmas. 

The report finds mobiles are second only to the TV when it comes to product discovery by consumers.  But when it comes to exploring and researching products, mobile is the dominant channel, with 56% of Australian shoppers preferring mobile over in-store visits (31%). 

Richard O’Sullivan, who is the VP and General Manager for Australia and New Zealand said, “As shoppers continue to turn to mobiles as their primary channel for purchasing, brands must think carefully about how they can leverage the rich signals available to drive contextual advertising at scale.” 

While shoppers are being described as cautiously optimistic about their festive season shopping, just 26% of Australians intend to increase their spending compared to last year’s holiday season budgets.  Some 46% plan to spend about the same as they did in 2021. 

E-gadgets, jewellery, apparel, and accessories are the categories most likely to be purchased via mobile devices, while groceries, home appliances, and home décor or furnishings will most often be purchased in-store. 

Convenience (64%), availability of shopper reviews (62%), loyalty programmes (59%) plus easy returns and exchanges (57%) have been identified as the main reasons why mobile apps and websites are gaining significant momentum as a purchase medium. 

Bargain hunters are again the main category for Australian shoppers at 51% of all shoppers, a decline year on year as 44% fewer Australians will rely on offers alone to make their purchase decisions. 48% of bargain hunters plan to spend $1,000, the same as in 2021. 

The number of Australian shoppers who are category shoppers increased 3.5x from 2021 with almost half of these shoppers, who have decided on categories but not the products or brands, planning to spend more than the $1000 they spent in 2021. 

Brand lover shoppers have also increased 3.5x year on year and 38% of respondents plan to spend more than the $1,500 they spent in 2021. 

The “ 2022 Holiday Shopping: What Brands and Retailers Need to Know ” report is based on a survey of 500 mobile users in Australia between September 8th and 10th 2022.